Over a month after causing a serious auto accident at the intersection of 14th Street and A Ave. the driver of the car that caused that wreck has been arrested.

By Bruce Whetten / Douglas Dispatch The driver of this vehicle that caused a serious auto accident June 30 at the intersection of 14th Street and A Ave. sending three people to the hospital was arrested July 31 and is now in federal custody facing human smuggling charges.

Mark Gonzales of the Douglas Police Dept. said police were in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant for the suspect, now identified as Carlos Vera Garcia, 32, when he was arrested after running from police on Friday, July 31st.

Gonzales said the DPD received a tip from an anonymous caller advising them of several undocumented aliens being picked up by a male subject in a blue vehicle at the 3000 block of Ninth St.

The DPD, Gonzales said, along with an Arizona Department of Public Safety Officer, located the vehicle westbound on Eight St.

The officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle at the Dollar General on San Antonio Avenue.

“The driver exited the vehicle and fled on foot, escaping from the grasp of both officers at the traffic stop,” Gonales said. “Police chased the driver apprehending him in the alleyway of the 1800 block of 10th St.”

Gonzales said several DPD officers recognized the suspect as the driver of the vehicle involved in the collision at 14th St. and A Avenue on June 30th.

“The suspect identified himself as Sergio Ramirez Valdez, 32, which was an alias commonly used by Vera-Garcia,” Gonzales said. “The suspect then admitted to police that he was, in fact, the driver of the suspect vehicle in the June 30th incident, which police were looking for.”

Police transported the suspect to the U.S. Border Patrol Station for identification by their fingerprint identification system.

The suspect was positively identified as Carlos Vera-Garcia 6-17-77, the driver of the suspect vehicle in the June 30th incident.

Police were informed by GIITEM Detectives that Vera-Garcia would be charged federally, as well, for the crimes of Human Smuggling.

Douglas Police turned over custody of Carlos Vera-Garcia to GIITEM Detectives and the U.S. Border Patrol for Federal charges.

Vera-Garcia will have to answer to the federal court system first, then be transferred to the state court system for additional charges.

Vera Garcia had been free several weeks after being released prematurely by a Tucson Hospital. The accident June 30 occurred when Vera Garcia sped away from a DPD officer who was attempting to make a routine traffic stop.